Thoughts on Toys from the Co-Founder of the Oppenheim Toy Portfolio

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I can feel the anticipation for this weekend’s opening of Cars2 from Disney Pixar from our testers in the 3-7 age range. While we haven’t seen the movie yet, we have been busy for the last few weeks taking a look at many of the new Cars2 games and toys. Videos of all CARS 2 products are also on our youtube channel.

Our testers loved the new LEGO DUPLO sets…The pieces are chunky and satisfying and can be integrated into your existing sets of LEGO DUPLO.

LEGO DUPLO Cars 2

We have also taken a look at all of the new games from HASBRO with the Cars 2 license – now attached to many classic board games.

Here’s what you need to know about each:

Cars 2 Connect 4 – In interest of full disclosure, I love Connect 4. It’s one of my favorite games for the 6 & up crowd. A beginning strategy game that kids really like (and their parents don’t mind playing). Sometimes the added license detracts from the game. A few years ago, there was a Sponge Bob Squarepants version that interfered with the utter elegance of this game (where you drop pieces into the grid with the goal of getting four in a row before your opponent). I would not recommend this game for pre-schoolers. Even for 6s, it’s a game that they need to play several times before they make that leap to being able to think several steps ahead.

Cars2 Connect Four

In this new Cars 2 version, the game play still comes through. Rather than the classic game where the game pieces are red and yellow, you’ll need to place the decals on the play pieces. They become either Mater or Finn. The color scheme of Mater (brown against white) vs. Finn (blue) makes it easy to distinguish the pieces (a plus). If you don’t have a Connect 4, and your child is into Cars 2– this wouldn’t be a bad version to buy. In any case, we’d always recommend the classic Connect 4 as part of your game library.

Cars2 Monopoly

Cars 2 Monopoly

Also very well done. Smartly identifying the younger audience for this movie, this version of Monopoly is closer to Monopoly Jr. — the money is much easier (only one dollar bills). Our testers loved the way you spin…which you do by moving McQueen around the track that circles the game board. Instead of Park Place and Boardwalk, the spaces are other characters from the movie. A well-designed licensed game that integrates the license into classic board game play. This game is appropriately marked 5 & up. Most younger kids will find the game play frustrating.

Cars 2 Guess Who?

Cars 2 Guess Who?

I’ve never been a huge fan of Guess Who? Here the game play is guessing by process of elimination which character from the movie your opponent has picked. I would say that if you have a super fan of the movie, they will love having all of the characters on the top of the board. It would also be a good travel toy for the car. Not sure I’d make the commitment to taking this one on a plane ride. I don’t think it will have that kind of lasting play value. Instead of playing by picking out hair color, here you’re asking “Is your car blue?” It is a game that calls for visual discrimination…it just never grabbed me as overly exciting.

Cars 2 Memory Game

Cars 2 Memory Game

If you have a 3 or 4 year old in the hunt for a Cars 2 game, this is best choice. If you’ve ever played a memory game with a preschooler or early school aged child, you know they have the ability to crush most adults at this type of game. They’re really great at the short-term memory. I’m not sure why adults tend to lose at these games…are we distracted? Already on the decline in this department? In any case, this is a particularly clever version of memory that incorporates the theme of Cars 2 into the game play. Once you make a “match”, the cars are placed into the grandstands to watch. Kudos to the design crew at Hasbro for coming up with this added dimension. There is also a score board where you are “racing” up to the finish line. Your play piece is a car. Now our testers thought that the cars should have had working wheels… but it’s still a nice aspect of the game.

Cars 2 Operation is pretty much what you’d expect. Instead of the classic big guy, it’s the character Mater. The board features bed bugs…a sign of the times.

Cars 2 Sorry! Sliders

Cars2 Sorry! Sliders

This one takes a while to put together but once you have the track assembled it’s pretty large. The game play involves “sliding” your piece around the track five times, but watch out your opponents can sometimes slide you backwards. This Candyland aspect (even worse because it’s being done to you) makes this a potentially “heated” game. Marked for kids 6 & up — but I suspect many of these games will be purchased for younger players. I’d really stay away from this one for 4s and 5s – the slide backwards will likely produce tears. (Unless they are playing with a parent.) The other problem with this game from my point of view is that the pieces do not fit back in the box unless you take them apart again. If you’re the parent in charge of such tasks you know how annoying this can be…why no make the box that 1/2 inch taller and wider so that the pieces can fit in without taking them apart!

Car 2 Trouble

Car2 Pop-o-matic Trouble

If you liked playing Pop-o-matic Trouble as a kid, you’ll enjoy this version. The character Mater is in the middle and you “pop” in the center of his vehicle. I thought it would make a car sound when you popped…like last year’s R2D2 Star Wars Version (my all time favorite). It was noisy (and more expensive) …so this one is less high tech. The game play remains the same.

And as Forrest Gump would say…that is all I have to say about Cars2 games.

Something so pleasing about getting those little pieces out without the buzzer going off! I’m not really sure how well I did it–but the game remains a fun hazy childhood memory. It’s probably those memories that always make me perk up at Toy Fair when they unveil the new Operation games of the season.

Toy Story 3 Operation

So far we’ve received both the Shrek and the Toy Story 3 Versions. As my son Matthew pointed out this is not the first Shrek Operation — the folks at Hasbro confirmed that there was an earlier version to go with one of the first three movies. There is also a Buzz Lightyear–you’ll notice that this is the first break from the usual image of one large body image stretched out (a la on an operation table). You see all of Buzz Lightyear but now he’s in an action pose. Probably not earth shattering news–but worth noting. Each of these movie-based versions has you going after appropriately themed pieces accompanied by sound effects that go with their characters.

Remember the old middle aged man from Operation. The big red nose. Kind of strange if you think about it too long. In any case, this year’s versions…Shrek and Ironman. Apparently if you have a multi-million dollar movie coming out you can get your own version of Operation. Sorry…no Brad or Angelina versions.